Feud heats up between Phil Davis-Vinny Magalhaes

The UFC’s light heavyweight division is in a logjam of sorts thanks to the organization’s decision to tie champion Jon Jones’ title up with a stint on TUF 17 opposite questionable challenger Chael Sonnen. With fighters like Dan Henderson and Alexander Gustafsson already waiting in the wings, other talented 205ers have had turn their hopes towards building a run at the belt instead of expecting to vault right into contention.

One such individual is returning TUF 8 finalist Vinny Magalhaes who picked up his first win inside the Octagon last September when he tapped out Igor Pokrajac at UFC 152. With six straight instances of success behind him, as well as finishes in all of his victories, Magalhaes has turned his attention towards Phil Davis with designs on claiming the rising star’s hype for his own.

Magalhaes has called Davis out a number of times, though it appears he wasn’t quite ready to back up his words when offered an opportunity to face “Mr. Wonderful” at UFC 155 on short notice after an injury to original opponent Forrest Griffin.

“You’re wasting my time. You didn’t want to fight on one of the biggest fight cards of the year (as) co-main, but I’m the one ducking you,” asked Davis rhetorically in a Tweet he recently sent out directed to Magalhaes.

The 28-year old Brazilian returned fire, inquiring as to whether he could take Davis’ statement as him verbally agreeing to action in February at UFC 157.

While nothing has been announced, given the mutual interest and bad blood it looks like fans should expect Davis and Magalhaes to lock horns at some point soon. The match-up is certainly an intriguing one from a stylistic standpoint, pitting an accomplished wrestler against a significant submission threat.